[English review] "Conmissariat"
T/n : this is the translated version of a French review I wrote in 2016 and you can read it here.
Coincidence or fate, I discovered this webserie the day the first episode which outremersbeyou promoted on their website. Intrigued, I watched, I smiled, and I thought to myself that I would watch the second episode... except that it slipped my mind and I forgot all about it. But that's okay! The last episode went live on February 24, so the timing is perfect for a review. I remind you that my goal is not to do free criticism but simply to promote creativity by giving my opinion.
Produced by Believe Digital and Yarma Videos, “Conmissariat” is a webseries of 11 episodes of approximately 5 minutes each. The word conmissariat is a word play on the word commissariat which means police station and the word con which is an insult meaning stupid/dumb… So I guess in English, the translation would be something like “Police stupiditation” or “Police Dumbstation”. Anyway, it features the team of a police station in Guadeloupe through short skits. We have James So-and-so, a falsely naive young intern after serving a sentence in prison; Boloko, the boloko playboy; Marise who loves gossip but says what she has to say when something doesn't please her; Boslà, the boss who thinks he knows everything but knows nothing.
Lokàl humor
The humor that makes me laugh is the "deadpan comedy" style in the "Parks and Recreation" genre. “Conmissariat” offers a light and down-to-earth humor, so I am not the target audience. Nonetheless, I enjoyed watching this webseries. First of all, it is local. This isn’t only about how they speak kreyol, I am talking about the actual plots and the acting. The attitudes, the thoughts are genuine and they make up for what the writing didn’t deliver at times from my perspective. I think that's the only "negative" point I could find anyway. There was some hesitation in the dialogue in the first 5 episodes and it was felt in the timing. The specific characteristics of each character are not always highlighted. For example, according to the description posted online by outremersbeyou, Bosla didn't really want to be a police officer and was recruited by her uncle. He has a 2-year-old child whose mother has moved abroad. On paper, he's a multidimensional and original character. After watching all the episodes the only thing that stands out is that he thinks he's a boss and can be trusted not to solve a case. Everything else, the fact that he was recruited by his uncle, that he never wanted to be a policeman, that he is a full-time dad, unless I'm wrong and if I'm wrong it shows it was definitely not highlighted, but none of these details are actually incorporated into the webseries.
Lokàl characters
About the different plots, there is only episode 3 that left me unsettled. A woman wants to file a report against her husband who beat her up, but Boloko only thinks of hitting on her. If we lived in a society where victims of domestic violence were not stigmatized and were not afraid to file a complaint, the situation could have been somehow funny, I guess, but this is not the case ... Or maybe it could have been a three-way dialogue with Marise who takes the complaint seriously and Boloko who tries to flirt but ends up being shut down. Or maybe the victim of domestic violence could have been a man and Boloko wouldn’t be able to comprehend the situation… Yes, no. I dunno. It's just the topic of domestic violence that doesn't make me laugh anyway.
Overall, I find each character endearing. It was cool to see guest stars like singer Daly, singer Dasha etc. My favorite character is Marise. Not because she’s the only woman in the quartet, but because she’s the perfect representation of the female characters that I would like to see more often. And I salute the fact that she is NEVER the subject of the punchlines and that she is never attacked on her physique or her work.
It’s really nice to see a character being a mother who is not afraid to put men in their place and who is desirable and is desired. She's straightforward but that doesn't prevent her from playing a “baccalaureate game”* with the others. She loves gossips, she manages her men when she needs a favor, she's absent-minded, in short, she's authentic. Boloko does everything to flirt with her with "doudou" [t/n: darling] here and “doudou” there, and she always shuts him down but without being… I would say hurtful? I mean her annoyance isn't expressed by despising him or his style. This is one aspect of the writing that I really liked. Characters don’t despise each other to bring out the laughs.
Lokàl quality
The real accomplishment for me in this web series is the visual. Not only there’s cinematography quality, but the sound is so clear that it makes the viewing experience super enjoyable. The simplicity of the set underlines the details that make the difference such as the objects on the desk or the posters on the walls to draw the universe well (that Dora Wanted sign… I laugh every time when I think about it). I also think the comic book-style opening credits and transitions are really well done. The director really take advantage of the limited space to diversify the shots and not give the impression of being locked in and always seeing the same thing.
I love the last sequence of Episode 11 with Marise, but Episode 10 is my favorite. It represents everything I love about “Conmissariat”. The zany side, the lokalization (where else would you find a “baccalaureate game” scene if not in a Caribbean setting?), the dialogues allow us to clearly identify the personality of the characters and the relationships between them. That's why I describe James as being fakely naïve because his character in the second half is less “dumb”. And the punchlines are pretty well paced.
From what I understood, the members of Ki Jan Twouvéy company started as self-taught actors and started seriously working on their projects in 2012. According to what they are capable of producing in less than five years and without having big financial support, I say “bravo!” and I can't wait to see what they’ll give us next. Check out Season 1
Update in January 2019: Three years later, I still agree with myself. I think it's a webseries with captivating freshness and spontaneity. My lens of 2019 being sharper than my lens of 2016, the negative points I mentioned haven’t changed. There are some really tricky subjects that will never make me laugh, but I can continue to relativize and enjoy the series. I hope you will do the same.
Official site: kijanwtwouvéy
Twitter and Instagram: @kijanwtwouvey Photo : Ki Janw Twouvéy @Facebook
*Baccalaureate game is widely played in French schools, but adults don’t play it. Here’s a short explanation of the rules.